Canadians buying equipment from US individuals? Taxes? Duties? (1 Viewer)

[Chris PC]

I am effectively located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. What taxes and duties can I expect to pay if I bought a projector from an individual in the US and they shipped it to me FEDEX. (An individual, meaning a person selling a used projector and not a retailer).

Any information about personal experience would be appreciated.

thanx

 

[Daryl Furkalo]

At minimum you will have to GST & PST on the declared value of the goods that the seller will have to fill out. If the product isn't made in Canada/USA/Mexico, you will have to pay a duty on top that. I don't know what Fedex charges for doing this, as they are the ones that will take care of processing it, paying the duties, when it enters the country, and you will pay them a fee for doing it when you pick it up. I live beside the US border and get my stuff shipped to a US address and then bring it over myself to avoid those duties.

Hope that helps.

 

[Drew_W]

Individual or retailer, it doesn't matter to Customs. They will still charge you GST and PST. I've never been charged duty, but it's the brokerage fees that you have to worry about. FedEx seems no better than UPS, now that I have had some time to look into it. UPS charged me almost $80CND (taxes+brokerage) on a $200USD player. I don't expect FedEx to be any different, especially after reports like this: http://benspage.com/bogus/messages/64.html

USPS/Canada Post, while taking an eternity to ship, their brokerage/handling fee is a flat $5CND (plus taxes).

Essentially, it has to be a *really* good deal to make it all worth it.

 

[Chris PC]

Any clue what duties what be on a Panasonic L300 worth $1600.00 CDN before taxes?

 

[JimPeitersen]

Guys,
What about the issue of "gifts" to friends across the border? I know that there are ethical issues involved (and I don't want to see this thread go in that direction), but do you have to pay the fees/taxes on an item if it is a gift?
JP

 

[Drew_W]

http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shi...clearance.html

UPS Brokerage charges. Remember to add GST on top of that, as well as the C.O.D. Fee for Collecting Brokerage Charges, $4.25.

Paying $240 in taxes, $57.30 for brokerage, $4.25 for COD and $4.31 in taxes (GST only) on the service fees, you're looking at $305.86 in extra fees, so all of a sudden the $1600 projector turns into a $1905.86 projector. Eeep.

Funny though, the brokerage fee on my invoice is $44.25. Now that I look at the fee schedule, I have no idea how they came up with this number. Consider my above projection to be a best case scenario.

UPS/FedEx are faster and enable you to track shipments. My rule of thumb is $100USD or less can go by mail (USPS/Canada Post), anything more goes by courier. So far, only the above mentioned player was worth all the hassle and extra cost. It *really* has to be a stellar deal, else it's best to buy local (and that gets you a valid warranty too).

 

[Drew_W]

Here's how Customs views what Jim just spoke of (while I was tying my last post). Anything under $20CND goes duty/taxes/brokerage free. If you declare it as a gift, that $20 becomes $60. Anything over that you're still responsible for paying duty/taxes/brokerage on. You can bend the rules a little if things are *just* over $60, but you'll raise flags if you insure and item for $100 and declare it for $59

 

[Ernest Yee]

Man - what a ripoff - $300 in duties?? If I were you I would definitely try to find it locally or find yourself a US PO Box. How far away is the drive from Toronto to the US, 6 hours?

 

[James Hibbert]

From my experience, always if you can get them to send USPS/Canada post and declare as a gift. I had a $2K US amp shipped to me and I paid $150CAN, alot less than I was thinking and I even had items pass through without paying anything. They aren't the fastest but could save you a few $$$$. UPS always charges the full amount plus brokerage. Fedex is the same but if it's an expensive item, you'll have to brokerage it yourself or power of attorney do it for you. I think duties if it wasn't made in North America are around 3-5%.

 

[brentl]

I'm still suprised that you have to pay taxes on a used product. I always assumed it was like buying from a garage sale.. it's uaed you don't pay.

To bad you can't do the Self addressed "return to sender" thing


B